A “Novel” Approach to Recreational Reading: Creating a Virtual Collection on a Shoestring

Providing recreational reading materials for patrons, while squarely within the purview of public libraries, has not been a goal equally embraced by academic libraries. Despite its connections to academic achievement and lifelong learning, many academic libraries either do not consider recreational...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reference and user services quarterly 2013-12, Vol.53 (2), p.94-99
Main Authors: Dahlen, Sarah P., Watkins, Steve G., Trott, Barry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Academic libraries
Anthologies
Application programming interfaces
Bibliographic records
Book covers
Collection development (Libraries)
For Your Enrichment
Forecasts and trends
Influence
Learning
Libraries
Library automation
Library catalogs
Library catalogues
Library collections
Library operations
Lifelong Learning
Literary genres
Market trend/market analysis
Novels
Portals
Public relations
Reading
Reading comprehension
Reading interests
Reading materials
Recreation
Recreational reading
Services
Technology application
Titles
University and college libraries
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Providing recreational reading materials for patrons, while squarely within the purview of public libraries, has not been a goal equally embraced by academic libraries. Despite its connections to academic achievement and lifelong learning, many academic libraries either do not consider recreational reading as vital to their mission or, more likely, do not have the funds to pursue its promotion. An affordable option is to create a virtual collection of print recreational reading materials that, through an online interface, allows patrons to browse for titles by genre or book cover. This virtual solution complements catalog searching by attempting to simulate a browsing experience similar to what one would find in a bookstore or physical library collection. This article addresses the justification for investing staff time in promoting recreational reading, discuses the technology employed to create and maintain this virtual collection, and shares the impacts of this effort on circulation of the items included in the collection.
ISSN:1094-9054
2163-5242
DOI:10.5860/rusq.53n2.94